infoTECH Feature

TeleSign Authenticator, the Two-factor Authentication App

Until very recently, two-factor authentication systems were reserved for enterprise customers who could afford the hefty bill. As the number of smartphones increased in the market place, service providers started lowering the price and the response has been very positive. Individuals, SMBs and other small organizations have been signing up in record numbers. One of the companies offering the service is TeleSign, a leader in the Internet security and authentication sector. The TeleSign Authenticator is the company’s two-factor authentication mobile app with push alerts and soft token options.

A two-factor authentication system requires the user to provide two forms of identification. Typically one is a physical item and the other one is something memorized, such as a password. This form of identification makes it very difficult to breach because you will have to surrender the physical item and the other party must know the password. This greatly increases the safety of the asset being protected. As with all things with security more is regarded as better, and some security protocols now require three-factor authentication. The third factor in this process needs biometric data such as finger scanning, retinal scan or a voiceprint in addition to the first two.

The TeleSign solution comes from a company that is continuously protecting the world’s biggest Internet and Cloud properties from fraudulent activity. It protects 2.5 billion downstream accounts in more than 200 countries and territories with localized services in 87 languages and dialects.

The Authenticator can be used by anyone including service providers as an added value for their product. It delivers out-of-band authentication with push notification or using a cryptographic key with a soft token. The app can be used as a stand-alone product as a single service or can combine the two-factor authentication protocol for multiple services or Web properties into a single app. This lets the user have one authentication for multiple providers. The app deployment and any software update are managed by TeleSign, so any issues related to the product will be resolved by the company.

"By white labeling the TeleSign Authenticator, TeleSign allows companies to brand their own offerings and keep their security solutions safely guarded. TeleSign continues to be the insider's secret for securing global users and massively reducing fraud for the world's largest online service providers and web properties," said Charles McColgan, TeleSign CTO.